U.S. President Donald Trump said he will meet "very shortly" with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to broker an end to the war in Ukraine, later indicating the summit will take place on Aug. 15 in Alaska. Trump told reporters a cease-fire could be within reach and hinted the accord might include “some swapping of territories.” People familiar with the talks say Moscow has pressed for international recognition of the territories it occupies—including Crimea and the partially controlled regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson—in exchange for halting its offensive. Confusion emerged after Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, was reported to have misread Russia’s position, believing the Kremlin had agreed to withdraw from some of those areas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected any settlement devised without Kyiv’s participation, calling such arrangements “dead solutions” and insisting Ukraine "will not give up an inch of land." Zelensky held calls with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to coordinate opposition to unilateral concessions. European capitals and Kyiv have drafted a counter-proposal that would require a verified cease-fire before negotiations on territory, limit any land exchanges to reciprocal agreements, and provide binding security guarantees for Ukraine. The blueprint was shared with U.S. officials ahead of the Alaska meeting. Even amid the diplomatic uncertainty, investors welcomed the prospect of direct talks: Ukraine’s sovereign bonds rallied after Trump’s announcement, reflecting hopes that a negotiated cease-fire could ease pressure on the country’s strained finances.